If the provinces adopted a new pension plan to supplement the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), employers would prefer that participation be mandatory.

That’s according to a new survey from human resources consulting firm Morneau Shepell.

The January survey received responses from 73 employers across Canada.

If their province were to introduce a new defined contribution plan to supplement the CPP, a plan that required employee and employer contributions was favoured by employers by a margin of nearly two to one over auto-enrolment with the ability to opt out.

The preferred mandatory DC plan would require employees to contribute only on earnings over $25,000 rather than on the first dollar of earnings.

“I think what we are witnessing is pension reform fatigue,” said Fred Vettese, chief actuary of Morneau Shepell.

“For the last seven years, employers and the public at large have been bombarded with white papers and public consultations on pension reform. Now they just want their governments to get on with it. There is a greater appetite among employers than we thought for a mandatory new plan that requires both employer and employee contributions.”